Ryan Murphy Is Starting a Foundation to Find and Employ Diverse Directors

50% of directors on Murphy's shows will be women or minorities by the end of 2016.

There’s been a lot of talk in the entertainment industry recently to be more inclusive, sparked in part by this year’s #OscarsSoWhite nominations, but now prominent members of that community are actually stepping up to make real changes. On the heels of Focus Features’ Lili Elbe Fellowship announcement, prolific showrunner Ryan Murphy is launching his own foundation to recruit more diverse talent behind the cameras of his own shows. Half, which will be a part of Murphy’s own television production company at Fox, will concentrate on adding more minority directors—women, people of color, LGBT individuals—to all of his hit programs including American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Scream Queens.

The former Glee creator will be working with a co-manager to create and utilize a database of currently working directors and up-and-coming talents (there are already plans for Half to recruit at Southern California colleges like AFI, UCLA, and USC). With the help of this new program, Murphy’s goal is to have 50% of his shows being helmed by diverse directors by the end of this year.